Nissan to recall all new cars sold in Japan in last 3 years

The recall is the second major misconduct incident involving a Japanese automaker in as many years, after Mitsubishi Motors Corp admitted in April 2016 it had falsified the fuel economy for some of its domestic market models.REUTERS | October 08, 2017, 10:52 IST

Nissan's shares fell as much as 5.3 percent to hit their lowest since April before closing down 2.7 percent.

By Maki Shiraki and Naomi Tajitsu

YOKOHAMA:Nissan Motor Co Ltd will recall all 1.2 million new passenger cars it sold in Japan over the past three years after discovering final vehicle inspections were not performed by authorised technicians, it said on Monday.

The recall is the second major misconduct incident involving a Japanese automaker in as many years, after Mitsubishi Motors Corp admitted in April 2016 it had falsified the fuel economy for some of its domestic market models.

Nissan, Japan's second-biggest carmaker, said it would recall 1.21 million passenger vehicles produced for the domestic market between October 2014 and September 2017, including top sellers the Serena minivan and the Note compact hatchback.

It added all recalled vehicles would undergo re-inspections for final checks on issues including steering radius and braking and acceleration capabilities, at a cost of around 25 billion yen ($222 million).

"We must take the registration framework and procedures seriously, regardless of how busy we may be or how short-staffed we may be," CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters at a media conference.

Saikawa added the company was investigating how and why the inspections took place, a process expected to take around a month. A third party will participate in an internal investigation into the matter, he said.

The recall includes all of the 386,000 passenger vehicles Nissan sold in Japan in 2016. It excludes Nissan-branded mini-vehicles, which are produced by Mitsubishi Motors.

The announcement expands the scope of a problem reported last week, when Nissan initially said it would suspend the registration of 60,000 vehicles over unauthorised inspections.

"This could turn out to be a serious issue depending on whether the misconduct was intentional or a simple oversight," said Takeshi Miyao, managing director of consultancy Carnorama.

"At the very least it could have a big impact on Nissan's brand image, given that it prides itself for selling quality products."

Nissan exported around 560,000 vehicles produced in Japan last year to North America, Europe and other markets. Spokesman Nick Maxfield said there was no difference in quality between cars made in Japan for the domestic market and those made for export.